The Nine Cauldrons

“Lead the way!” Teng Qingshan yelled.

“Yes, yes.” The lean man walked continuously along the burning magma path. Only, he made sure to keep at least a few Zhang away from the magma, because if he were any nearer, the suffused heat would be even more terrifying.

“Qingshan, the heat in this area is gonna kill me.” Teng Qinghu’s forehead was glistening with sweat.

Teng Qingshan maintained his calm as he walked; furthermore, he was only two Zhang from the lava and could distinctly feel the waves of heat that the lava pumped out as they approached his body: “This heat is approximately 100 degrees! A normal martial artist would not be able to protect themselves from this sort of heat.”

100 degree heat was nothing to Teng Qingshan’s terrifying body.

Perhaps only the heat within the lava could be of some threat to Teng Qingshan’s body, which possessed a tenaciousness that far surpassed steel alloys. It wouldn’t even be threatened by a First Rated Warrior’s saber or sword. This sort of a terrifying body could withstand heat to a frightening level.

“My three lords, the surrounding underground lava is too hot; it makes one terribly thirsty.” The lean man continued. “Yes, we still have two kilometers to go before we reach the area where the Black Fire Spirit Fruit is at; however, it is even hotter there.”

“Two kilometers?” Teng Qingshan instructed, “We should pick up the pace.”

“Yes.” The lean man immediately hastened his speed and began to run.

As they ran, Teng Qingshan continued to observe his surroundings. The solid rock, that encompassed the flowing magma, was a light black color. As for the adjacent mountain rampart, the exterior had an indistinct lighter white color. Teng Qingshan walked over and brushed it with his hand, causing it to disintegrate into tiny pieces and tumble down. Of course, aside from the exterior, the interior was rather sturdy.

Moreover——

Next to the lava was not only one path, but rather numerous tunnels; however, the further down the path they went, the darker they became. There was no way of knowing how deep they actually were.

“Where does this tunnel lead to?” Teng Qingshan asked.

“I don’t know. I didn’t dare to brashly wander around in these frightening areas. When I came down here at the time, I only followed the lava as I walked. All I know is that returning will be very easy and losing your way is quite hard.” The lean man said. “The further we advance, the hotter it gets. The Black Fire Spirit Fruit’s location is the place in the tunnels with the most extreme heat!”

They continued to follow the winding lava flow.

Gradually, Teng Qingshan discovered something. “Hmm? The color of the lava flow has changed? When I first came down, the lava was a red color. I didn’t pay attention while we were walking, yet the lava has already become orange.” Teng Qingshan clearly felt the heat rising.

“The Black Fire Spirit Fruit resides in the open area ahead of us.” The lean man proceeded to say.

“Black Fire Spirit Fruit!” Du Hong and Teng Qinghu’s eyes lit up, and they sped up their pace.

The further they walked, the hotter it became.

After rounding another bend, Teng Qingshan and the others had already reached a spacious area. The original river of lava had already transformed into a circular “lava lake” that was nearly a dozen Zhang wide. The lava on the edges of the lake were orange, and closer to the center, the lava would slowly change to a yellow, golden color. Particularly the centermost point, which was a dazzling white color.

A black boulder was surprisingly protruding from the center of the lake. On top of it was a transparent spirit root with black leaves, as well as a black fruit.

The spirit roots seemed to burrow deep within the interior of the rock, while the exterior only contained a short section of the spirit roots. The most important parts, however, were the leaves and the fruit.

At first glance, this black fruit seemed very ordinary and unappealing.

“Gugu~~~”

Surrounding the stone sitting in the center of the lake were waves of lava, that were similar to spring water. The surfacing lava flow was a dazzling white color! It was the same as lifting one’s head and looking directly at the sun: brilliant!

“The white lava contains the highest temperature! The further away the lava is from the center, the lower the temperature. The color will also slowly change according to the temperature.” Teng Qingshan stared at the brilliant white magma. “Underneath these black lava rocks is definitely a lava passage that leads to an abyss where the lava emerges from! This white colored magma has an astonishing temperature!”

Teng Qingshan even thought about dipping his body into the red colored lava.

Of course, it was only an idea.

When he saw the dazzling white lava, the idea didn’t even surface in Teng Qingshan’s mind. “Even with my body, once I enter the magma, there’s no way I would be able to withstand it.” He had no need to test it out. With a simple look, Teng Qingshan understood the dangers of this white, dazzling, sun-like lava.

“Even though it’s submerged in the white lava, the black boulder in the center of the lake has not only kept its original form, its color hasn’t even faded! It’s definitely not a normal rock.” Teng Qingshan knew that this black rock was most likely a profound treasure.

Nevertheless...

With such a large volume, no one knew exactly how much of the rock in the center of the lake was still hidden underneath the lava flow.

There was no way of moving it!

“The spirit root is growing on this rock and thus must be even more extraordinary.”

......

Just as Teng Qingshan and the two others continued to stare at the lava lake and give their opinions, the lean man clenched his teeth and frantically sprinted for a neighboring dark tunnel.

“Lieutenant! That chap is running away!” Du Hong yelled and proceeded to give chase.

Teng Qingshan also reacted when the lean man raced for the tunnel and gave chase. Only, when Teng Qingshan and and Du Hong ran to the tunnel, they saw the lean man take a sudden turn and sprint into another tunnel.

“You stay here. I will chase him.” Teng Qingshan commanded.

“Yes.” Du Hong affirmed the order.

Everyone knew that this lean man knew where the Black Fire Spirit Fruit was located, so there was no way they could let him escape; otherwise, the Gui Yuan Sect would not be able to easily obtain the Black Fire Spirit Fruit’s Black Fire Spirit Root.

......

In the dark tunnel, there were countless forks in the path. The lean man was engrossed in his thoughts as he ran. “If I follow the lava and continue running, they will definitely catch me. Earlier, I didn’t have a chance to escape in White Fog Area. Right now, I can only escape through one of the tunnels. Since the interior is pitch black, I might actually hope of escaping!”

He closed his eyes and began to run wildly.

Teng Qingshan would run sometimes and stop at other times. In his mind, he continued to remember: “Left. Left. Right. Left...” Truthfully, when it came to speed, Teng Qingshan was faster than the other party; however, the interior of the tunnel was shrouded in darkness, and the opposing party would often make sudden turns. Teng Qingshan had no way of clearly seeing the other and could only rely on his ears.

Thus, his speed was significantly reduced.

“Hmm...” Teng Qingshan stood at a junction in the path. Using his ears to listen carefully, he could distinctly hear running sounds coming from ahead, but right in front of him was a wall.

“Which way did he run?” After experiencing his previous life’s training as an assassin, the simple task of memorizing his route wasn’t an issue.

Suddenly——

Like a phantom image, Teng Qingshan’s right foot ferociously stamped against the mountain wall in front of him. “Peng!” The mountain wall proceeded to explode. A Zhang-thick mountain wall had been completely obliterated with a single kick from Teng Qingshan. From above, a myriad of crushed rock fell down onto his head, but Teng Qingshan used “Transmutation Unity Law” to easily knock away the rocks with his spear.

A meter-thick wall was normally capable of preventing one from passing, but Teng Qingshan had merely used a single kick to obliterate it.

After walking through, Teng Qingshan listened carefully again.

......

“Run! Run! This forsaken area is pitch black, so it’d be a wonder if the Gui Yuan Sect’s people are able to find me.” A trace of a smile appeared on the lean man’s face. “In a little while, I will be able to slow down and carefully look for an exit.” Just as his heart began to relax, suddenly...

“Hu!”

A fishy smell pervaded the air. Before the lean man had the chance to react, he felt a sharp pain overcome his entire body. Subsequently, he lost consciousness.

A red pupil surveyed the surrounding area as a colossal black monster slowly walked out from its nest. It was at least two Zhang tall and four to five Zhang in length, causing one to be extremely shocked. It was a Red Scaled Beast! However, the current Red Scaled Beast was much stronger than it had been a month ago.

A Postliminary Realm cultivator would be of no threat to the current Red Scaled Beast.

With every step it took, not even the slightest sound was made.

The Red Scaled Beast’s quite footsteps were much like a kitten’s gait: noiseless.

After walking a while, the Red Scaled Beast walked around a bend and discovered a distant figure. This familiar figure wielded the same long spear that had previously heavily wounded it. The Red Scaled Beast’s red pupils contracted, and it proceeded to immediately retreat.

Teng Qingshan abruptly turned his head and looked over!

“Hmm?”

Teng Qingshan instantly flew around at a quick speed like lightning. After a while, he had arrived at that corner and looked to both sides.

“No one?” Teng Qingshan’s eyebrows creased. “My detection should be correct!”

In his previous life, those secret service agents had been completely unable to approach Teng Qingshan. In his current life, even when he was just ten years old and the mounted bandit attempted to ambush him, none of them had escaped Teng Qingshan’s detection.

Although that Red Scaled Beast had only looked once before immediately retreating, Teng Qingshan had still detected its presence in that instant.

“Hmm?” Teng Qingshan gripped his Reincarnation spear and looked at the fork in the path. “There aren’t any traces of movement...”

After a while, Teng Qingshan had no choice but to return.

He didn’t realize that the lean man had already become the Red Scaled Beast’s lunch.

......

A moment later, the Red Scaled Beast entered the dark labyrinth once again. Its natural habitat was a dark hot environment. On this path, where not even a ray of light existed, Teng Qingshan could only see ten meters away from him at most, while the Red Scaled Beast could see as if it were daytime. This was a unique ability that its eyes possessed.

Its nose was very efficacious, and by relying on smell, the Red Scaled Beast was able to follow the path Teng Qingshan used to leave the tunnel.

A moment later, the Red Scaled Beast stopped at a certain area.

Here, Teng Qingshan had just used his foot to kick apart a thick mountain wall. The one Zhang thick lava rock was something that even a Postliminary martial artist would find hard to break apart. Yet, Teng Qingshan had only used one kick! The strength of one’s leg was normally stronger than the might possessed by one’s arms.

Teng Qingshan’s two arms had a combined strength of 280,000 jin, so it could only be imagined how much more terrifying his legs were.

Nevertheless, one’s hands contained the ability to utilize weapons, and thus they were able to condense the strength into a “spear tip”. On this spear tip, there was a terrifying amount of gathered force, making its prowess naturally enormous. Using one’s legs to utilize a weapon was incomparable to using hands. However, when comparing strength, the legs were naturally much stronger than hands.

At the time when Teng Qingshan opposed the Frost Jade Pool’s Flood Dragon, he had to use a kick in order to escape.

The strength of one leg was at least 200,000-300,000 jin.

This amount of leg strength was naturally enough to kick open lava rock!

The Red Scaled Beast was very familiar with its own nest and knew that before today, this wall had not been in pieces.

The Red Scaled Beast lifted its massive head and stared in the direction that Teng Qingshan had retreated; its two pupils contracted. Its intelligence was not the least bit inferior to normal humans, and from this terrifying hole, it was able to deduce that... its human enemy harbored a terrifying strength that was enough to threaten its very existence!